Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Artist Feature: J. C. Leyendecker

Here are some beautiful illustrations from J. C. Leyendecker, the man responsible for creating the Arrow Collar Man and over 400 magazine covers from 1896-1950. The peak of his career was in the 1920s, and he would become a chief source of inspiration for (and friend of) Norman Rockwell. Unlike the other artists we've featured so far, there is considerably more information available on Leyendecker. I just used his Wikipedia page for the brief little introduction above.

I just love this one!

Love this! Such pretty colors and scene and dress and a dapper fella. Actually, I have yet to see a Leyendecker guy that isn't dapper.

Ok, it seems Leyendecker painted jester-esque images more than the average person. And I love it. Who would think scenes with jesters could be so whimsical and romantic? Apparently Leyendecker saw a way to make that possible.

Le sigh.

Mhmm. Leyendecker knew how to paint handsome men just as well as beautiful women.

Another favorite!

Such a cute scene. And you can totally see where Rockwell was drawing his inspiration from.

I think this one is great - it doesn't grab your eye due to beautiful colors or a lavishly romantic scene, but it made me look for a while, trying to figure out what was going on. You can view the scene in so many different ways!

Another great one. This one also seems to be a good example of where Rockwell was influenced, in both the style and the sense of humor.

He is also really good at using dramatic lighting. Not just here, but in many of the above.